SEC Names New Deputy Director for Division Overseeing Advisors

The Securities and Exchange Commission has tapped David Grim for the No. 2 spot in the Division of Investment Management, the bureau that oversees federally registered investment advisors.

Grim takes over as deputy director after 17 years with the investment management division, where he most recently served as assistant chief counsel.

In his new position, Grim will play a key role in formulating the SEC's policy work in the oversight of investment advisors. In April 2012, his predecessor, Robert Plaze, authored the agency's last major policy statement regarding advisor oversight, a 59-page document detailing the SEC's authority under the Investment Advisers Act and related statutes, including which advisors must register at the federal level and the regulatory requirements the agency imposes on the sector.

Plaze retired in August 2012 after a tenure of nearly 30 years with the SEC.

The role of the SEC in regulating investment advisors was the subject of a heated, if shortlived, congressional debate last year. By its own admission, the SEC lacks sufficient resources to rigorously oversee advisors. A pair of bills seeking to address that shortfall emerged in the House in 2012 -- one that would authorize the SEC to name one or more self-regulatory organizations to conduct examinations, and another that would enable the agency to increase its own reviews through the collection of user fees from industry members.

Both bills languished in the divided Financial Services Committee, leaving the matter for lawmakers to reconsider in the new session of Congress.

In addition to investment advisors, the SEC's Division of Investment Management regulates an array of investment companies such as mutual funds, closed-end funds and exchange-traded funds.

In his new role, Grim will serve under division director Norm Champ.

In a statement, Champ said that Grim "brings intellectual curiosity and extensive management experience, and is committed to our program of making the division an organization that grows through continuous improvement."

"I am honored to have the opportunity to work with Norm and my dedicated colleagues in the division to carry out our vitally important mission on behalf of investors," Grim said in a statement.

Grim's career at the SEC began in September 1995, when he took a position as staff attorney in the investment management division's Office of Investment Company Regulation. Then in January 1998, Grim moved to the division's Office of Chief Counsel, serving in a variety of roles before eventually landing as assistant chief counsel, a position he held until his most recent promotion.